The Pollard farms are raising CLONED cows.
http://www.pollardfarms.com/

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5AC07V20091113

This message has been edited. Last edited by: John Galtism,

I think when they get to selling this meat on the markets they need to be clearly marked "cloned". I, for one, intend to avoid any sort of cloned foods! It's not natural and just like feeding butchered cow scraps to other cows helped create the "Mad Cow" disease, I'm leaning towards the thought this won't end up much better!

quote:

Originally posted by Inc0gnit0:
I think when they get to selling this meat on the markets they need to be clearly marked "cloned". I, for one, intend to avoid any sort of cloned foods! It's not natural and just like feeding butchered cow scraps to other cows helped create the "Mad Cow" disease, I'm leaning towards the thought this won't end up much better!

This is one among the many major concerns about consumer products being developed by ( ?? Mad ) Scientists. Even though the FDA has approved a product , is it truly safe and should it be labeled in a unique manner like dangerous substances.
Maybe the Enid News can do it's job protecting the public and get a story on the farmer and his controversial project ?

Here is a poll done on cloned meat.
http://www.justhungry.com/clon...roducts-poll-results

This message has been edited. Last edited by: John Galtism,

Really don't have an educated opinion on cloned animals...it may or may not be fine. What I think is of far greater concern is where this science is headed in terms of human application. With advances in this technology, is human engineering far behind? Sort of makes you wonder where it will all end up...Really didn't know this was a censored story...thought it was well known for quite some time.

I quit eating beef years ago. That was one of my better decisions.

I eat Beef, Pork,Chicken,Turkey, Fish, Squirrel, Rabbit, Quial, Dove, Frogs, Ducks, Geese, Turtles,Eggs, Butter, Whole Milk and many more meats, All Vegies, lots of water coffee tea etc. I am 70 years old and can out work most 1/2 my age. Oh yeah. Been to the Dr. Twice in the last 30 year's. Once when cleaning the ice off my nerd neighbors steps and broke my ribs and once for broken finger. Only drugs I take are asprin and my centrum silver and calicum tabs.


All things aside I think the reason I am so lucky is the amount of exercise i get every day.


.

Go Nes! We aren't getting out of here alive anyway.

OK, the librarian on vacation got curious and looked up the actual FDA report. It's long and in a technical language that is tedious to wade through, but if you do some interesting things begin to emerge.

FDA Report(d) Summary for Perinatal Developmental Node in Bovine Clones (Developmental Node 2)

The combined information from the peer-reviewed literature and the Cyagra dataset indicates that, overall, the health of newborn clones tends to be more unstable than their comparators, with a higher incidence of perinatal death. Abnormalities noted among both dead and surviving clones include respiratory distress, organ malformations, flexor tendon contracture, and umbilical difficulties. Some animals succumbed to infection, but there does not appear to be a decrease in immune function in the population of clones at the perinatal stage. Despite the increased incidence of perinatal death and abnormalities in newborn clone calves, none of the adverse outcomes observed are qualitatively different from adverse outcomes that have been observed in natural breeding or other ARTs. It is therefore unlikely that any unique food consumption risks have been introduced into these animals.

What strikes me is that most of these animals die and those that live are very fragile. Reading through all the deaths in the report is disturbing. I do understand that death is a large part of animal experimentation--this is, after all, what bred the animal rights movement--but I don't understand why a commercial farm that survives on profits would introduce such an unprofitable methodology into their business plan at this time. Obviously, if cloned critters become cheaper to produce than vaginally born animals, we will see a broad infusion of cloned meat into our diets.

If Pollard Farms are using cloned animals, I'm curious as to why. Farm subsidies for experimental research?

Believe Pollard Farms is a well financed, professionally run and very successful farming operation...as with most things, follow the money trail to discover the whys and wherefores. Doubt if many farmers have the expertise or finances to enter this field. With their track record, I don't believe Pollard Farms would be exploring this area if there was not money to be made. Of course that's the motivation for most projects.

I'm not sure what you meant by cloned critters versus vaginally-born. These cows are not grown in sci-fi test-tubes and artificial wombs.

This is a fertilization technique... borrowing DNA from a quality animal and substituting it into a donor egg to be implanted.

From what I understand, for a long time, prize bull sperm has been the hot ticket item, with select bulls providing sperm to numerous operations.

I think the only thing new about this are the methods involved today. Breeders have always looked to improve their stock by selective breeding.

And we wouldn't have a lot of the edible veggies that we have today had it not been for our ancestors being selective about seed.

NOW... I think people are afraid because of problems that crop up in certain enclosed societies where cousins marry cousins, and "problem" DNA is amplified... Just the opposite is being sought, in working the weaknesses out of the food chain.

I don't really understand what they are using for DNA... and that would be my concern about the age of the donor cells. I still don't see how this makes the meat harmful to eat.

Cook my steak medium well, mushrooms in butter and wine, and stir fried asparagus...let's eat!

quote:

Originally posted by LibraryKat:
OK, the librarian on vacation got curious and looked up the actual FDA report. It's long and in a technical language that is tedious to wade through, but if you do some interesting things begin to emerge.

FDA Report(d) Summary for Perinatal Developmental Node in Bovine Clones (Developmental Node 2)

The combined information from the peer-reviewed literature and the Cyagra dataset indicates that, overall, the health of newborn clones tends to be more unstable than their comparators, with a higher incidence of perinatal death. Abnormalities noted among both dead and surviving clones include respiratory distress, organ malformations, flexor tendon contracture, and umbilical difficulties. Some animals succumbed to infection, but there does not appear to be a decrease in immune function in the population of clones at the perinatal stage. Despite the increased incidence of perinatal death and abnormalities in newborn clone calves, none of the adverse outcomes observed are qualitatively different from adverse outcomes that have been observed in natural breeding or other ARTs. It is therefore unlikely that any unique food consumption risks have been introduced into these animals.



If Pollard Farms are using cloned animals, I'm curious as to why. Farm subsidies for experimental research?

Thank you LK . A kosher Rabbi would never give cloned meat a Kosher seal by this horrible description.

I could not find that exact quote in the link provided, but noted that the developmental node 2 section was in regard to studies early on in the process.

What you seem to be overlooking is the end of the quote:

Despite the increased incidence of perinatal death and abnormalities in newborn clone calves, none of the adverse outcomes observed are qualitatively different from adverse outcomes that have been observed in natural breeding or other ARTs. It is therefore unlikely that any unique food consumption risks have been introduced into these animals.

I'm not really terribly condoning of any type of fertility treatment, especially for humans... we are overpopulated, and I sure don't wish to see cloning in humans.

BUT, the point of cloning the beef is to find a way to work problems OUT of the mix, not create them. And I do not see in the article any information about the resultant edible beef product being tested for safety.

Is the resultant beef safe to eat?

How much beef has been eaten from naturally-conceived cattle that wasn't safe?

What I'd like to see people in an uproar about is the continued inspection problems that allow 100s of 1000s of pounds of contaminated beef and chicken products released to restaurants and stores. THAT is extremely worrisome, and just happened again. Was the contaminated beef from cloned cows? Probably not.

Or.... let's discuss what corporate farming does to the safety of products... :)

Or.... let's discuss what corporate farming does to the safety of products... :)[/QUOTE]

The product potential is endless.
Here is a pic of cloned Cats that glow in the dark. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22477655/

The evolutionary chain could take a bold leap and they could clone wings on pigs.

Maybe even wings on humans some day.
It becomes a serious question on Ethics .

Corporate Farming could become as sociopathic as wall street.

Selective breeding to improve the herd has been around for thousands of years.

This is something different.

If the end goal is to only be able to obtain calves via a lab procedure, therefore controlling all of the new livestock for purchase...then it makes sense to streamline cloning.

Natural breeding renders new calves at low cost. Cloning will always require a lab, harvested eggs, invitro introduction of the DNA into the egg, then reintroduction of the embryo into the cow. A very expensive process. Of course all of the cloned cows with the same DNA would be the property of the corporation that sponsors the cloning. All calves born from those cows would inherit that DNA, and would be property of the coporation.

Unless they are anticipating sterile cattle in the near future and they think there is a need to clone for survival of the species.

I think it all comes down to control of the food supply and experimentation.